Man arrested on suspicion of robbing elderly woman at Greeley Walmart

A Greeley man is being held in the Weld County Jail on suspicion that he robbed an elderly woman at gunpoint and tried to rob another woman, both after he was accused of attacking an Evans man with a hammer.

Greeley police arrested 23-year-old Johan Hernandez-Urzua, described as a gang member, on Friday after a 79-year-old woman told police a man with a gun stole her purse while she was getting into her car at Walmart, 3103 23rd Ave., according to an affidavit.

A 48-year-old woman told police a man had tried to steal her purse while she was walking along 22nd Avenue that same day, but she was able to fight him off. That woman said the man reached for his waist as if he had a weapon, the affidavit states.

Police determined that the suspect in both cases jumped in the passenger side of a white Chevrolet Suburban after both incidents, and they later found the 79-year-old woman's credit cards with another person in that vehicle, the report states.

Police found Hernandez-Urzua after he ran into a Greeley resident's backyard.

In the Evans case, a man told police that Hernandez-Urzua had been drinking on Sept. 11 and grew angry over a landlord-tenant dispute, according to an affidavit. The man said Hernandez-Urzua punched him in the face before pulling a hammer from his back pocket and hitting him repeatedly in the head, ribs and back. The man suffered several broken bones, the report states.

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Hernandez-Urzua faces charges of robbery and theft from an at-risk adult, as well as attempted robbery and theft charges. He also faces a first-degree assault charge and a trespassing charge.

Hernandez-Urzua is being held on a $50,000 bond in both robbery cases and a $35,000 bond in the assault case.